Improvement in iron pavements



L. STEBBINS.

PAVEMENT.

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UNITED STATES:

PATENT -FFICE.

LUCIUS ST'EBBINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN IRON PAVEMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,610, dated October29, 1801.

i To all whom 11; may concern.-

invented a new and Improved Pavement for Streets; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification, in which Figure 1 represents a plan or top viewof this invention, partly in section; Fig. 2, a longitudinal verticalsection of the same, the plane of section being indicated by the line :0m, Fig. l; and Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The object of this invention is to produce a pavement which will presenta smooth and even surface for the wheels of vehicles and whlch at thesame time will prevent the slipping of the horses feet and allow ofbeing readily cleaned from snow and ice.

The invention consists in the employment of movable teeth or keysprojecting through openings or slots in flat metal surfaces, which formthe pavement, said teeth or keys being balanced by weights or springs orby any other desirable means in such manner that they yield when exposedto the pressure of a fiat surface, and that they prevent the slipping ofthe horses feet when not depressed; also, in forming the pavement out oftwo plates, each being ribbed in such a manner that channels areprovided to carry oif the water and dirt, or out of one plate providedwith suitable ribs to form such channels, and so that steam, water, orhot air can.be introduced for the purpose of melting snow or ice or forany other purpose desired.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation with reference to thedrawings.

The surface of my pavement is formed by placing together aseries of flatsmooth metal plates A, which ought in practice to be soarranged as tobreak joints. These plat-es are perforated with a number of holes a, andteeth or keys 12 project from below through said holes. These keys arebalanced and kept in an upright position by means of weights 0 orsprings o, as shown clearly in Fig. 3 of the'drawings, and they are soaron a perfectly-smooth surface.

ranged that a slight pressure exerted on them in a vertical direction issufficient to depress them. If the wheels of a vehicle pass over theplates, the keys are depressed and the wheels move with the same case asthey would At the same time, if the foot of a horse begins to slip onthe plates, it will strike the nearest key edgewise, and the key is nowsqueezed in between the edge of the hole, through which the sameprojects, and between the edge of the horseshoe, and the slipping isprevented.

The plates A are provided with ribs (1, which run in a longitudinaldirection, and they rest on ribs 6, which project from plates E, thatform the base or foundation of the pavement. The plates E and ribs eextend from one side of the street to the other, and said plates arejoined together, so that no dirt can pass up between them. The ribs eare perforated with apertures 1' close down to the bottom of the platesE, thereby forming channels which carry off the water and dirt that mayfind its way down through the holes a in the top plates A. At the sametime, by the arrangement of the ribs (Z and e, a hollow space is formedbetween the plates A and E, so that steam or hot air can be introducedif it is desired to melt snow or ice which may have accumulated on thesurface of the plates A.

This pavement, notwithstanding its first cost exceeds that of ordinarystone pavement, will prove the cheapest in the end, because it isself-cleaning, since the water and dirt readily wash off through theholes a, and

even snow and ice may be removed without difficulty, and, furtheremore,the saving in rolling-stock and in horse-flesh will be immense. Therewill be no slipping of horses. One horse will be enabled to draw along amuch larger weight than on ordinaryroads, and the wheels of the vehiclesin passing over the smooth surface of my pavement will sustain noinjury.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The employment of movable teeth or keys .b, projecting through slotsor openings a in fiat metal surfaces A, which form the pavement,substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose shown and described.

2. Making the keys movable by means of weights, springs, or by any otherdesirable means, substantially as and for the purpose set forth,

3. Forming the pavement outof two plates A and E, each being ribbed,substantially in the manner herein specified, so that channels ageprovided to carry off the water and the dirt, or out of one plateprovided with suitable ribs to form such channels, and so that steam,water, or hot air can be introduced under the pavement whenever it isdesired.

, LUCIUS STEBBI'NS. Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON,

LEWIS A. TUCKER.

